Why Folic Acid in Your Food Might Be Making Millions of People Sick and Costing Taxpayers Billions

JD Unfiltered

04 Apr 2026 — 6 min read

You've probably never thought twice about folic acid. It's in your bread, your cereal, your rice, your pasta, and now, if you live in California, it's in your tortillas too. The government put it there to prevent birth defects. But new genetic science shows that for more than half the population, this same ingredient may be quietly fueling Alzheimer's, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

What Is Folic Acid and Why Is It in Your Food?

Folic acid is a synthetic (man-made) version of folate, a B-vitamin your body needs. In 1998, the federal government required food manufacturers to add folic acid to flour, bread, pasta, rice, and cereals. The goal was simple and well-intentioned: prevent serious birth defects of the brain and spine in newborns.

On January 1, 2026, California went further with a new law (AB 1830) requiring folic acid in corn tortillas and other masa products, foods eaten daily by millions of Latino families.

The problem? Your body can only process a small amount of synthetic folic acid at a time. When you eat more than your body can handle, which is shockingly easy with today's fortified foods, the excess builds up in your blood in a form called UMFA (unmetabolized folic acid). And UMFA is not harmless.

What Does UMFA Do to Your Body?

Think of UMFA like a traffic jam. Your body has a small on-ramp (an enzyme called DHFR) that converts synthetic folic acid into the natural form your cells can use. That on-ramp can handle about 200 micrograms per meal. But a single bowl of fortified cereal can contain 400 micrograms. Add a sandwich on enriched bread and a serving of enriched rice, and you've overwhelmed the system before dinner.

The folic acid that can't get through the on-ramp starts circulating in your blood, where it:

Weakens your immune system — specifically the "killer cells" that hunt down cancer
Hides a dangerous B12 deficiency — letting nerve damage progress without any warning signs
Feeds tumor growth — by promoting new blood vessel formation that cancers need to spread
Increases oxidative stress — the cellular rust that damages your DNA, brain, and organs

Here's Where Your Genes Come In

Not everyone is equally vulnerable. Three common genetic variants, ones that millions of Americans carry without knowing it, determine whether folic acid fortification helps you, does nothing, or actively harms you.

Gene #1: SOD2 (rs4880) — Your Mitochondrial Fire Extinguisher

Every cell in your body has tiny power plants called mitochondria. They produce energy, but they also produce dangerous sparks called superoxide radicals, essentially fire inside your cells. Your body makes a fire extinguisher called MnSOD (manganese superoxide dismutase) to put out those sparks.

If you carry the TT version of this gene, your fire extinguisher doesn't get delivered to the power plant properly. It's like having a fire extinguisher locked in the garage while the kitchen is on fire. The sparks build up, damaging your DNA, your brain cells, and your organs, every single day.

Who has it:

86% of Asian Americans — nearly 9 out of 10
44% of Black/African Americans — nearly 1 in 2
27% of Hispanic/Latino Americans — roughly 1 in 4
25% of White Americans — 1 in 4

Gene #2: GPX1 (rs1050450) — Your Cleanup Crew

Even when the fire extinguisher works, it creates a byproduct, hydrogen peroxide (yes, the same stuff in the brown bottle). Your body has a cleanup crew called GPX1 that turns that peroxide into harmless water. But it needs a helper to do its job: glutathione, your body's master antioxidant.

If you carry the TT version of this gene, your cleanup crew is understaffed and slow. Hydrogen peroxide builds up and damages your tissues.

Who has it:

16% of Black/African Americans
10% of Hispanic/Latino Americans
9% of White Americans
1% of Asian Americans

Gene #3: APOE4 — The Alzheimer's Risk Gene

APOE4 is the most well-known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. If you carry even one copy, your brain is already under more oxidative stress than average. Your blood-brain barrier is leakier. Your brain's immune cells are more aggressive and more prone to causing damage.

Who carries it:

36% of Black/African Americans — more than 1 in 3
26% of White Americans
22% of Hispanic/Latino Americans
17% of Asian Americans

The "Perfect Storm" and How These Work Together

Imagine your body's defense system as a three-step fire brigade:

Step 1 (SOD2): Catch the spark → If you're TT, this fails
Step 2 (GPX1 + Glutathione): Clean up the smoke → If you're TT or low on glutathione, this fails
Step 3 (APOE4): Protect the brain → If you carry APOE4, your brain is already on fire

Now add daily folic acid from every fortified food you eat. The UMFA that builds up throws more fuel on a fire your body is already failing to control. And it gets worse over time — the damage compounds year after year from childhood through adulthood.

Low glutathione — which becomes more common as you age, eat processed food, take certain medications, or are exposed to environmental toxins, means the cleanup crew has no supplies left. The system collapses.

Low butyrate — caused by not eating enough fiber, shuts off your body's emergency backup system for turning on antioxidant genes. It's like losing the backup generator during a power failure.

How Many People Are Affected in California?

Based on published genetic data from major genome databases, here's what the numbers look like for California's 39.2 million residents:

More than half of all Californians carry at least one of these risk genes. And 4.5 million carry two or more, putting them at the highest risk.

The Cruelest Irony

The communities most at risk are the very communities these fortification laws were designed to help:

Latino families eat the most corn tortillas, exactly the food California just mandated must contain more folic acid. Nearly half of Latino Californians carry at least one risk gene.

Black/African Americans have the highest rates of carrying multiple risk genes (23.6% carry two or more), the highest APOE4 rate in the nation, AND already suffer disproportionately from Alzheimer's, diabetes, and heart disease.

Asian Americans are almost universally affected by SOD2 TT (86%), meaning nearly their entire population has a weakened first line of antioxidant defense.

What This Costs You as a Taxpayer

People with these genetic vulnerabilities who are exposed to a lifetime of synthetic folic acid develop chronic diseases at higher rates. Those diseases are extraordinarily expensive, and taxpayers foot much of the bill through Medicare, Medicaid, and other government programs.

Estimated Extra Costs for California Alone

Estimated Extra Costs for the Entire United States

With ~175–190 million Americans carrying at least one risk genotype and 28 years of mandatory fortification, the projected national excess healthcare spending is $38–$82 billion per year
Over the 28 years since fortification began, the cumulative excess cost may be $500 billion to $1 trillion
When you add disability payments, lost wages, and caregiver costs, the true societal toll reaches $100–$200 billion per year nationally

What Can Be Done?

This is not an argument against preventing birth defects. Neural tube defects are devastating, and folate is essential. But there is a simple, available solution that protects babies without poisoning everyone else:

Replace Folic Acid with Methylfolate (5-MTHF)

Methylfolate is the natural, bioactive form of folate, the kind your body actually uses. It:

Works just as well at preventing birth defects
Produces zero UMFA because it doesn't need the DHFR enzyme to be processed
Goes straight into your body's folate cycle without creating a traffic jam
Is already available as a supplement and could be used in food fortification

Screen for Risk Genes

A simple, inexpensive genetic test can identify who carries SOD2 TT, GPX1 TT, and APOE4. People with these variants could be counseled to:

Choose foods fortified with methylfolate instead of folic acid
Monitor their glutathione levels
Take targeted supplements (NAC, glycine, selenium, fiber for butyrate production)
Get proactive screening for the diseases they're most at risk for

Demand Better Policy

Ask your state and federal representatives why the government is still using a 1990s fortification ingredient when safer alternatives exist
Demand that cost-benefit analyses for fortification laws include genetic risk stratification
Support legislation requiring UMFA monitoring in the food supply

The Bottom Line

More than 22 million Californians, and 175 million Americans, carry genes that make synthetic folic acid a potential driver of the very diseases that are bankrupting our healthcare system. The science is clear, the genetic data is published, and the alternative (methylfolate) already exists. Every year we delay the switch, we add billions in avoidable healthcare costs and untold human suffering.

The question isn't whether we can afford to make the change. The question is whether we can afford not to.